Oil cartel OPEC kept its world oil demand growth projections unchanged for 2014 and 2015 on Friday, as global economy forecasts remained stable going into next year.

The estimates were issued as the price of oil continues to fall because of gloomy sentiment on the market about prospects for economic growth, notably in the eurozone.

Two of Malaysia's largest financial institutions, CIMB Group and RHB Capital, said they plan to merge along with a property lending firm to create a "financial powerhouse" that will become the country's biggest bank. 

The three institutions are seeking central bank approval for the merger, according to documents submitted Thursday with Malaysia's stock exchange, and aim to sign a definitive agreement early next year.

The International Monetary Fund stepped up its warnings over a possible eurozone recession Thursday, pressing governments like Germany to spend more for reverse a stall.

Worries about the eurozone stagnating were at the forefront as the annual IMF-World Bank meetings on the global economy kicked off.

Finance officials from the world's largest economies are being urged to prevent the global economy from falling into a "new mediocre" in which growth remains stuck at subpar levels for years to come, trapping millions of people on unemployment rolls.

Finance ministers and central bank presidents of the Group of 20 nations, which include traditional economic powers such as the United States, Japan and Germany, and emerging economies such as Russia, China and India, were wrapping up two days of talks Friday with a joint statement of goals and a news conference expected in the early afternoon.

Bumper harvests and big stockpiles of food are helping to drive world food prices down to the lowest levels for about 15 years, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization reported on Thursday.

The economic skies above the eurozone darkened again on Thursday as data showed a sharp drop in exports from its two biggest economies, Germany and France.

Firms from a range of countries will invest $2.12 billion to develop oil fields in Ecuador's Amazon basin region, the government said Wednesday.

In his pristine dispensary on a quiet corner in Paris, chemist Antoine Louguot never thought he would hang up his white coat in protest and go on strike.

Japan Tobacco said it may close two European factories and cut production at a third in a move that could see about 1,100 layoffs, citing a "challenging operating environment".

The company plans to hold talks with unions representing workers in Lisnafillan, Northern Ireland, and Wervik, Belgium about shutting the sites, while some production at its Trier plant in Germany will be relocated, it added.

The perfect baguette has long been the ultimate test for aspiring bakers the world over.

And now the ability to produce this long, thin loaf is in global demand because the appetite for baked delights from France is surging in regions with burgeoning middle classes -- notably Asia and the Middle East.